servafandomcom-20200215-history
Battle of Regotha
The Battle of Regotha was a fierce and large battle fought in space over Regotha in the Pel's Aurora Region in the year 197. It was fought between the Innovaganix "Hive" Fleet and a coaltion of Lukkastor and ATOS Background Innovaganix had asserted itself as the regional hegemon in the course of the Pel's Aurora Settlement Wars and the War of Innovaganix Reassertion, but just because ceasefires had been signed did not mean that all tensions had been resolved. In particular, Lukkastor still maintained claims on Regotha, a colony which had been originally under its sponsorship, but had been hotly contested between Innovaganix and HMMC in the War of Innovaganix Reassertion, eventually falling under Innovaganix control. When The Free Systems declared war on Innovaganix with Operation Shellshock, and with the discovery of the Spades virus, Lukkastor used this oppurtunity to aid The Free Systems in their war and declared against Innovaganix. ATOS, too, was convinced to join the war, and thus most of the region was embroiled in war. Opposing Forces Innovaganix held over 20 Starships in orbit of Regotha at the time of the battle, a significant force led by the corp's flagship in the region, the IVX Hive, from which Commander Vertalys, overall commander of the Pel's Aurora Innovaganix Corporate Fleet, and a very experienced admiral, commanded the Astrofleet. The Coalition, on the other hand, brought over 30 warships to the fight, thus heavily outnumbering Innovaganix. However, Innovaganix had the advantage of a fleet composition and more experienced admiral. Leadup Lukkastor initially sent a small raiding force to scout the system, which was caught and almost entirely destroyed by a well planned Innovaganix ambush. Only one warship survived, but it was able to limp to the rendezvous point, and the combined Lukkastor and ATOS Astrofleets decided to return to Regotha and give battle to the smaller enemy fleet. Battle From Regotha's point of view the combined coalition fleet appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and even Innovaganix's tight patrols seemed to have been surprised, and briefly were caught off balance. A 'super defense monitor', an old Star Battlecruiser which was, though heavily armed, almost immobile, was quickly destroyed, but the coalition fleet failed to press their advantage home before the bulk of the IVX force came to relieve a surrounded patrol squadron. The fighting was fierce and close range, the two fleets squaring off in a distant orbit above Regotha, only ten light-seconds apart. The coalition fleet won on the flanks, but IVX's superior drone complement was able to win in the center and gain momentum, with enough drones surviving the hail of point-defense fire to get through and cause significant damage to coalition capital ships. Meanwhile, IVX used this diversion to repel the light ships causing so much disruption on the flanks. After this was done and the coalition fleet managed to defeat IVX's drone wings, it returned to a fierce laser duel, a duel that Innovaganix had the upper hand in. After some time the coalition fleet decided it best to withdraw, and used the gravity of Regotha to help slingshot them out of practical laser engagement range as quickly as possible. In the process, the IVX lead dreadnought and fleet flagship, the IVX Hive, had already taken a beating and now was dealing with the brunt of the coalition's firepower as they attempted to cover their retreat. The juggernaught tried to maneuver to position a fresh set of armour plates towards the enemy but, being a dreadnought, could only do so very slowly, and the last of the coalition's coil-cannon ammunition was sent hurtling towards the struggling Hive in a parting volley. The warship fought on to its last breath before the coil-cannon volley knocked it out of orbit and carved massive gashes through the starship. Commander Vertalys, admiral of the regional Innovaganix corporate warfleet, was confirmed to have died in the destruction of the Hive. Nonetheless, Innovaganix could claim victory having repelled the attack. The victory was a very costly one, however, both sides having lost a roughly equal number of starships. Out of over 50 which participated, the Regothan observatories estimated that more than 30 from both sides had been lost, with many of the survivors having been heavily damaged. Aftermath The Victory in the Battle meant that Innovaganix retained control of Regotha for now, but the heavy damage sustained by the fleet put it in an almost untenable position. To make matters worse, Commander Vertalys' death was a significant blow to morale, and his expertise would be sorely missed in the following fights. Retaining control of Regotha did, however, allow Innovaganix to salvage the destroyed ships for resources with which to repair several of the starships that had been left behind. The Coalition fleet too was severly reduced, however, and had to retreat to lick its wounds and deal with the Innovaganix ships raiding Telotele, buying Innovaganix some time to get repairs started on the ships left behind at Regotha. Regotha, already by far the most contested colony of Pel's Aurora, had still not seen the end of war, however, as in the next month, a reinforced coalition task force arrived to end the matter once and for all, and the new Innovaganix commander was forced to fight a desperate withdrawal that became known as the Regotha Convoy.